Field Guides

With gorgeous full-colour photos arranged in an easy-to-use colour coded chart for quick identification, the pocket-sized format is perfect for taking along on walks and hikes through both the Pacific Northwest countryside as well as the urban wilds of West Coast cities. Supplying English and Latin names, the distribution range of each species and average plant height and flower size, Phillipa Hudson shares her knowledge of coast flora gained through over 30 years as an active amateur botanist.

The waters of the Pacific Northwest are home to some of the most unique and diverse marine creatures in the world, including rockfishes, greenlings and, of course, salmon. This full-colour brochure is packed with information on seventy-eight "must-have" common fishes of the Pacific Northwest. A Field Guide to Common Fish of the Pacific Northwest provides a succinct rundown on a huge variety of our fishy neighbours, and is an ideal guide for fishermen, divers and anyone interested in the marine life that fills our surrounding waters.

A Field Guide to Foraging for Wild Greens and Flowers pinpoints easy-to-find greens and flowers that many don't realize are edible--such as dandelion, clover, chicory, sheep's sorrel and lamb's quarters--and also introduces readers to the delicious leaves of such native plants as goldenrod and fireweed. And readers can also eat their way to conservation by enjoying edible invasive plants in salads, like garlic mustard and fennel. A lightweight pamphlet that will easily fit into a purse or back pocket, this laminated guide will turn every walk from the bus stop, backyard ramble or stroll around the neighbourhood into a fun foraging expedition.

Rich in nutrients, used in products from cosmetics to explosives to fertilizers, and vital to our coastal marine ecosystems, seaweeds can be found on any rocky shore or beach in the Pacific Northwest. The pocket-sized Field Guide to Seaweeds of the Pacifc Northwest is packed with full-colour photos and information on a select variety of the most important and interesting seaweeds commonly encountered on the West Coast. Whether you want to identify seaweeds, better understand their role in the ocean, forage for food, collect for art or you're just plain curious as you poke around the seashore, this educational guide is your ultimate source for casual phycological fun.

Have you ever been walking at the beach and wondered what that pebble or rock is, or do you ever wonder what stories rocks tell? If so, then this is the guide for you.
The Field Guide to the Identification of Pebbles , a full colour, laminated, accordion folded, easy to use guide with over 80 beautiful photographs of pebbles from beaches and rivers. Use the photos to identify over 28 different types of rocks and minerals. A great resource for Earth Science curriculum units in schools, the short text deals with how rocks form and how to tell if a rock is igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic. It also provides some fun facts about minerals in our daily lives.

This introductory field guide is designed for the beach explorer, the boater, the skin diver, and the scuba diver. Rick has limited its contents to the most common species, which can be seen from, or along, the seashore, or in the shallows. It's easy-to-spot features will guide the beginner into the wonderful world of the western seashore.

In her book, Native Rock Carvings of the Northwest Coast, Beth Hill gives a fascinating introduction to the subject of Aboriginal Petroglyphs of the Northwest Coastal Region - BC, Washington, Oregon and Alaska. Beth Hill and her husband Ray travelled the coast for close to 20 years, recording the known sites, and discovering others.

A must-have guide to Native petroglyphs.

Review
... a concise and clearly written treatise on the topic. It explains the relationship between religion and art, cosmology and self-expression. Beth Hill's descriptions of rock carvings written in the context of their possible shamanistic meanings bring each engraved scene she describes to life.... For such a small book, it is one of the most complete treatments I have read. The black and white pictures are great, and she gives you the story behind each example. One seldom comes across a book that gives so much information in so small a format.
— D.L. Cannonon

Northwest Coastal Wildflowers will help you identify the most common flowers of the coastal regions of Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. Identification is made easy by arranging the flowers by the colour of the petals, so that even the novice can simply open the book to the appropriate section and watch for the species in question. Northwest Coastal Wildflowers is illustrated with one or more colour photographs and is accompanied by identification tips.

Northwest Coastal Wildflowers is a part of the Northwest Wildflower Series, which also includes Northwest Mountain Flowers and Northwest Dryland Wildflowers. Mountain Flowers will help you identify the most common flowers of the mountain and alpine regions in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia; Dryland Wildflowers will help you identify the most common flowers of the drier areas east of the Pacific Crest in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia; and Coastal Wildflowers, as mentioned above, will help you identify the most common flowers of the coastal regions of Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. As a complete set, Dryland Wildflowers, Coastal Wildflowers and Mountain Wildflowers will enable you to identify over 500 of the wildflowers throughout the varied landscapes of the Northwest, and will thus continually draw your eye to beauty, adding to the enjoyment of any journey through the region.

Northwest Dryland Wildflowers will help you identify the most common flowers of the drier areas east of the Pacific Crest in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. Identification is made easy by arranging the flowers by the colour of the petals, so that even the novice can simply open the book to the appropriate section and watch for the species in question. Northwest Dryland Wildflowers is illustrated with one or more colour photographs and is accompanied by identification tips.

Northwest Dryland Wildflowers is a part of the Northwest Wildflower Series, which also includes Northwest Mountain Flowers and Northwest Coastal Wildflowers. Mountain Flowers will help you identify the most common flowers of the mountain and alpine regions in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia; Coastal Wildflowers will help you identify the most common flowers of the coastal regions of Washington, Oregon and British Columbia; and Dryland Wildflowers, as mentioned above, will help you identify the most common flowers of the drier areas east of the Pacific Crest in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. As a complete set, Dryland Wildflowers, Coastal Wildflowers and Mountain Wildflowers will enable you to identify over 500 of the wildflowers throughout the varied landscapes of the Northwest, and will thus continually draw your eye to beauty, adding to the enjoyment of any journey through the region.

Northwest Mountain Wildflowers will help you identify the most common flowers of the mountain and alpine regions in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. Identification is made easy by arranging the flowers by the colour of the petals, so that even the novice can simply open the book to the appropriate section and watch for the species in question. Northwest Mountain Wildflowers is illustrated with one or more colour photographs and is accompanied by identification tips.

Northwest Mountain Wildflowers is a part of the Northwest Wildflower Series, which also includes Northwest Coastal Flowers and Northwest Dryland Wildflowers. Coastal Wildflowers will help you identify the most common flowers of the coastal regions of Washington, Oregon and British Columbia; Dryland Wildflowers will help you identify the most common flowers of the drier areas east of the Pacific Crest in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia; and Mountain Flowers, as mentioned above, will help you identify the most common flowers of the mountain and alpine regions in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. As a complete set, Dryland Wildflowers, Coastal Wildflowers and Mountain Wildflowers will enable you to identify over 500 of the wildflowers throughout the varied landscapes of the Northwest, and will thus continually draw your eye to beauty, adding to the enjoyment of any journey through the region.

Wild Berries contains a simple key and nearly 100 magnificent colour photographs to guide you quickly to berry identification. Let us look together at the more commonly seen wild berries plants of the Pacific Northwest - roughly the area west of the Rocky Mountains from southern Alaska to the Columbia River of further. We won't cover every last kind, for some may be left out that few of us will ever see. This book is not for the serious botanist, but for the family or individual seeking simple and reliable information about the berries along our roads and trails. Because this is not for the expert, we shall take some other liberties. We'll use the word berry in the popular sense rather than in the more restricted sense applied by the botanist. Also, we shall lump together some closely related kinds of plants.

Medicinal plants are increasingly well regarded as supplements and sometimes as alternatives for prescription drugs. Steven Foster and James A. Duke have used recent advances in the study of medicinal plants and their combined experience of over 100 years to completely update the Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. The clear and concise text identifies the key traits, habitats, uses, and warnings for more than 530 of the most significant medicinal plants in the eastern and central United States and Canada including both native and alien species. Seven hundred plus images, the organization-by-color system, and simplified warnings make identifying medicinal plants fast and easy.

At first glance, the ocean shoreline appears as a great expanse of beach, water and sky. Look closer – as the water recedes to low tide, an amazing world of fantastical creatures awaits your discovery. Tidepools are home to an extraordinary diversity of life arising from the need to survive this ever-changing and sometimes harsh environment. Let the Tidepool Twitcher be your guide to exploration and discover of the animals and seaweeds of the Pacific Northwest intertidal zone.

The Tidepool Twitcher is perfect for any beachcomber and includes full colour identification photos of crabs, barnacles, mollusks, chitons, nudibranchs, limpets, kelp, seaweeds, sea stars, urchins, sand dollars and cucumbers, anemones, sponge as well as info on tides and tidepool ettiquette.

Learn answers to all the bird questions you've always wanted to ask in this beginner's guide, filled with wisdom and humour.

In 1983, Mike O'Connor opened the Bird Watcher's General Store, which might well have been the first store devoted solely to birding in North America. Since that time he has answered thousands of questions about birds, both at his store and while walking down the aisles of the supermarket.

The questions have ranged from:

- inquiries about individual species (Are flamingos really real?")
to
- what and when to feed birds ("Should I bring in my feeders for the summer?")
to
- the down-and-dirty specifics of backyard birding ("Why are the birds dropping poop in my pool?").

Answering the questions has been easy; keeping a straight face has been hard.

Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches? is the solution for the beginning birder who already has a book that explains the slight plumage variations between doves, but who is really much more interested in why birds sing at 4:30 a.m. instead of 7:00 a.m., or whether it's okay to feed bread to birds, or how birds rediscover your feeders so quickly when you've just filled them after a long vacation. Or, for that matter, whether flamingos are really real.

Reviews
"Mike O'Connor knows birds - I mean, REALLY knows them. He has been answering questions about birds for years, and he can deliver the straight scoop with a hilarious twist that makes it unforgettable. Reading this book is almost as much fun as bird watching, and that's saying a lot!" — Kenn Kaufman, author of the Kaufman Field Guide to the Birds of North America